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Changing Needle Sizes

I’ve been contemplating the Whisper Rib Sock design. The sock is sized for a woman’s foot so I need to adjust it to fit Lily’s small foot (child size 10/11). I don’t want to mess with the stitch design so I’ve been knitting swatches using various needle sizes. The pattern specifies a size 1 needle with no mention of the metric size, which is one of my top knitting peeves. Size 1 means nothing to me since I have size 1 needles that are 2.5mm and others that are 2.25mm.

The top swatch was knit with a size 2mm needle and the bottom one was knit with a size 1.5mm needle. The size 1.5mm needle will gives the right sized sock (6.5 inches) but makes a very stiff and tight fabric. I’ve decided to use the 2.0mm needle, which will make the sock a little larger then desired, but I’m sure she’ll grow into them.

The orange loops (tiny rubber bands) on the bottom swatch are markers that indicate where the center lace panel is worked. I ran across these “hot markers” on Countrywool‘s website. I think they are rubber bands that kids wear on braces.